Lockheed also said it expects to resume share repurchases in the current quarter. The company had ceased buybacks while it was considering amendments to its benefit pension plans.

The company's net income rose to $889 million, or $2.76 per share, from $859 million, or $2.64 per share, a year earlier.

Lockheed reported a 13 per cent rise in revenue at its aeronautics business — its largest unit — due to a larger number of production contracts for the F-35 fighter jet.

With an estimated cost of $400 billion, the radar-evading jet is the world's most expensive weapons project.

Total revenue fell about one per cent to $11.31 billion, hurt by a decline in U.S. government spending.

Lockheed's shares have gained about 41 per cent in the past year, compared with a 16 percent rise in the S&P 500 index . They were up at $167 in premarket trading after closing at $162.98 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.